Liu is known for her paintings drawn from Chinese historical photography and often depicts such elemental human activities as laboring, eating, journeying, leaping, fighting and dreaming. With an overlay of traditional Chinese birds, flowers, insects, dragons, and – most recently – stylized human figures, Liu offers her subjects artistic evidence of their own rich heritage – as if to remind or comfort them. The photorealism of the works is tempered by Liu’s technique of diluting her paint with linseed oil, which is then dripped onto the surface, blurring and distorting the portrait. The painting becomes akin to a memory image, and much of the meaning of Liu’s painting comes from the way the washes and drips dissolve the photo-based images, working to uncover the cultural and personal narratives. She is included in the collection of The Oakland Museum of Art and is represented by the Rena Bransten Gallery, SF.

1988Artists for Amnesty, Dallas Public Library, TXFifteen in the Air, Sheppard Gallery, University of Nevada, Reno, NV'Four Corners,' in 'Coast to Coast', Diverseworks, Houston, TX (Traveled to: The Kitchen, New York, NY)

1987Art in the Metroplex, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TXI Am Not A Cubist (Foot in Mouth), Texas Sculpture Symposium, San Antonio, TXUTA Faculty: New Work, UTA Center for Research in Contemporary Art, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX

1980National Fine Arts Colleges Exhibition, traveled in China

1978Portraiture Exhibition, Winter Palace Gallery, Beijing, China

AWARDS2016
Distinguished Woman Artist Award, the Council on One Hundred, Fresno Art Museum

2011
SGC International - Award for Lifetime Achievement in Printmaking

2009
UCSD Alumni Association, 50th Anniversary 100 Influential Alumni

2008
Honor Award for Design, US General Services Administration for the San Francisco Federal Building